Climate Change, Metal and Waterways

High in the Rocky Mountains, just west of the Continental Divide, metal concentrations in the Upper Snake River have been climbing over the last 30 years, in some cases increasing as much as fourfold. Strong evidence links this trend to climate change, according to a recent study led by the United States Geological Survey and University of Colorado at Boulder . United States Geological Survey The Upper Snake River basin. Air and water sampling and record-keeping for the Upper Snake River, which has remained pristine for the past three decades, has been long-term and consistent. The United States Geological Survey and the Environmental Protection Agency’s records show a 30-year trend of rising temperatures, melting permafrost and dropping water tables that parallels the rise in metal concentrations, suggesting a relationship between those variables. Because the metals are d...